A Magical Bond
by Mr Nuked Duck
Summary: It's the day after parents' day. Harrison doesn't feel like getting out of bed. Nerris doesn't like being ignored.


It was the day after parents' day. Harrison didn't feel like getting out of bed. His mind was still muddled with memories from last night. Despite everything that had happened, the camp was still in business (somehow). Gwen and David were now the official proprietors of Camp Campbell and everything was back to usual, as if nothing had happened. Even Max, despite his cynical self, seemed at least somewhat relieved by the outcome. By all accounts, it should have been a happy ending and to most people it was, except for Harrison.

At the end of the day, the parents had left. From the corner of his eye, Harrison had watched as the other campers said goodbye to their respective parental figures: exchanging hugs and loving words, promising to see each other soon. Even Nurf, of all people, got to hug his mother, handcuffs and all! His parents hadn't so much as waved goodbye, just stuttered something along the lines of "just hang tight for now" and "we'll figure something out", before rushing onto the bus and speeding off into the night, leaving their eldest son standing at the end of the driveway.

He didn't even get to hug his mom goodbye.

The young illusionist sighed and turned over in his cot, wrapping himself further in his forest green blanket. He was still in his pyjamas. Preston had already left for breakfast, content with the lie that Harrison had an upset stomach. He knew that he would have to deal with David coming to check up on him eventually, but until then he was content just lying there in bed, feeling sorry for himself.

"There you are!" an all too familiar lisp called out, snapping him out of his somber thoughts. "I should've known you'd still be here! Were you planning on sleeping all day?"

Feeling his mood worsening, Harrison turned to glare over his shoulder at Nerris. Even without her trademark lisp, there was no mistaking that knife-eared silhouette blocking the tent's entrance, makeshift cape and all. She was standing with her arms crossed and her right foot tapping against the ground, like she had just caught a younger sibling with their hand in the cookie jar.

Choosing to ignore her, Harrison turned back to facing the tent. Maybe if he waited long enough, she would loose interest and go away?

"You know you're gonna miss breakfast, right?" Nerris questioned.

Harrison didn't answer.

"Oh, I see! You're just gonna ignore me?" she said with feigned indignation as she approached the cot, standing over his curled-up form. "And here I came all this way just to get you - because I'm nice like that!"

Once again, Harrison didn't say anything. He just kept glaring holes in the tent.

"Hello! Are your ears plugged with coins or something? I'm talking to you, Harrison!"

"Go away!" Harrison finally exclaimed, sick and tired of her persistent taunts.

Something in his voice made Nerris pause for a moment, but it wasn't enough to dissuade her. If anything, it only made her more curious.

"What's wrong?" she asked, hoping to coax another reaction from him. "Did you make your underwear disappear again?"

A wave of heat rushed to Harrison's face, much to his own annoyance, as he begrudgingly recalled last week's "full moon"-incident. Somehow, he had his doubts that he would ever get to live that one down. Needless to say, her teasing did little to improve his mood and he was starting to loose his patience.

As if things weren't bad enough, why did it have to be her?!

In his mind, he could still recall the image of Nerris' parents wrapping their daughter in a big, loving embrace before getting on the bus. He remembered her mother telling her to "be safe and have fun". He remembered her father telling her just how proud he was of her, adding that she would become a great LARP:er someday. The image of them both waving through the window as the bus carried them away into the night was the ultimate gut punch. Everything that Harrison so desperately wanted from his own parents, she had in droves and she didn't even realize it!

It pissed him off.

But he wasn't jealous! He wasn't! He just...! He just didn't want to look at her face right now.

Meanwhile, Nerris had been growing steadily more concerned as the silence dragged on. This felt different from their usual bickering. Harrison was usually pretty good at answering back – even if his comebacks weren't always the best – but right now it seemed like he wasn't even going to attempt a comeback. He actually seemed genuinely upset about something. It was enough to make her rethink her approach.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked, this time in a much softer tone of voice.

"I'm fine!" Harrison insisted, shortly.

"Are you sure?" No answer this time. Nerris decided to venture further. "You wanna... talk about it?"

"There's nothing to talk about!" Harrison snapped, turning around to glare at her. "Now leave me alone!"

Taken aback by his sudden outburst, Nerris huffed and turned on her heel.

"Fine! If you're gonna be like that I might as well leave!" she called as she stomped towards the entrance. "Some of us have better, more important things to do with our time than just lie around in bed and mope all day, y'know!"

"Oh, I'm sure you do!" Harrison jeered, rolling his eyes. "Those basilicas aren't gonna fight themselves!"

"They're called basilisks!" Nerris shouted from outside the tent. And with that, she was gone.

Still fuming over the exchange, Harrison turned once again to glare at the tent. So much for peace and quiet...!

Why did she have to be like that, he wondered, always pushing his buttons and mocking his passion? As if he didn't have enough problems to deal with already!

Still, despite all his bitterness, Harrison couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt as silence settled over the tent once again. Deep down, he knew that none of this was Nerris' fault. His family situation wasn't because of her or anything that she had done. And taking it out on her – just because she happened to have loving parents – wasn't going to solve the issue.

If anything, he only had himself to blame.

When David finally showed up five minutes later, he found Harrison just as Nerris had left him: still in his pyjamas, curled up in his cot, wrapped in a forest green blanket. His characteristic top hat was still waiting for him, along with the rest of his outfit on a trunk at the foot of his bed. Sighing to himself, the red-haired camp counsellor approached the boy carefully.

"Hey there, Harrison!" he ventured, softly, careful not to startle him. "How are you feeling?"

"Not well." Harrison lied, kind of. "My tummy hurts."

"I'm sorry to hear that." David nodded understandingly. "Tell you what, why don't you just stay in bed for now. I'll be back to check on you before dinner."

"Okay." Harrison moaned, adding a fake cough for good measure.

If David saw through his act, he certainly didn't show it. He just kept smiling, like he always did.

"Oh, and in case you feel better, I brought you some food!" David added as he produced a metal tray. "It's not much, but it should be enough to keep your blood sugar up."

Glancing at the tray, Harrison counted one sandwich, one apple, and one carton of milk. Each item was a staple of the Camp Campbell breakfast experience, right down to the milk's questionable expiration date.

"Um... yeah. Thanks, I guess." Harrison mumbled, hoping that his stomach wouldn't betray him by growling. He was actually starting to get pretty hungry.

"No problem." David assured him, setting the tray down next to his clothes. "Oh! And before I forget...!"

Reaching into his back pocket, Harrison watched as David produced a small, spherical object, wrapped in a colourful piece of paper.

"Is that...?" Harrison asked, straightening his posture at the familiar sight.

"One of the campers asked me to give this to you!" David explained as he gave Harrison the candy. "She- I-I mean they thought it might help cheer you up! Normally we wouldn't allow this sorta' stuff here at camp, but... I think we could make an exception, just this once!"

Harrison was dumbstruck. All he could do was stare at the piece of candy resting in his palm. It was a cherry-flavoured fruit-pop. He hadn't had one of these in ages. The last time he saw one was... yesterday? Come to think of it, Harrison seemed to remember Nerris' father handing her something before they left. Could it be...?

"Anyway, I should probably get going!" David said, pointing his thumb towards the exit. "Those plants aren't gonna pot themselves! Take care, Harrison!"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Sure." Harrison mumbled absentmindedly, unable to take his eyes off the fruit-pop.

In the end, he didn't even notice when David left for the activities field or when the green blanket slipped off his shoulder, exposing his magic-themed pyjamas. All he could think about was the small piece of candy currently resting in the palm of his hand. If he didn't feel guilty about yelling at Nerris before, he sure did now. Still, Harrison knew better than to look a gift horse in the mouth and so he unwrapped the candy and popped it in his mouth, letting the sweet cherry flavour sooth his aching heart.

It tasted magical.


End file.
